The mood at the Stadio Olimpico was far from happy during the weekend fixture. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had conceded ten goals while managing only two goals in their last five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Coming Unstitched?
Was the team's progress unraveling, or had there never been a binding element keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as manager during the off-season, but then he publicly stated that the management had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Speculation that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Roman club appeared equally disorganized during matches as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing their other opening fixtures, including the Rome derby. Throughout this period, observers have struggled to ascertain if progress is being made or imploding.
Matteo's Unexpected Return
At least one man continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this year. He was on the last one at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, Lazio were advocating for him to stay there temporarily. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He signed initially during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 league appearances for Lazio in 2022-23, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, subsequently claimed Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Discovering His Best Role
Perhaps the manager was still trying to determine the exact type of the player's talent. Billed as an attacking winger when he joined, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
